Sand conditioning machine



y 2, 1940- s. B. D AVIES 2 6,

SAND CONDITIONING MACHINE I Filed July 8, 1958 4 S heets-She et 1 July 2, 1940. I a DAVIES 2,206,164

SAND CONDITIONING MACHINE Filed July 8, 19358 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Why, fm

y 2, 1940. s. B.,DAVIES 2,206,164

SAND CONDITIONING MACHINE Filed July 8, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 s w a 30. 55 i l.

July 2, 1940. s. B. DAVIES 2,206,164

SAND CONDITIONING MACHINE Filed July' 8, 1938 4 SheetS -Shet 4 Patented July 2, 19.40 l I v V UNITED ,STATES -P'ATENT OFFICE 2,206,164 l f v SAND CONDITIONING MACHINE Stanley B. Davies, Kingston, Pa., assig nor to Boyer Foundry & Machine Company; Kingston, Pa., acorporation of. Pennsylvania Application July 8, 1938,Serial No."218,210

2 Claims. (Cl. 2289') The present invention relates to a sand con- I Figure 6 is a detail of the propelling'andsteerditioning and treating machine. ing mechanism for the machine. a

An object of the invention is the provisionof The present invention is particularly dapted a machine of this character capable of receiving for use in foundries. It has been the custom in poured molds, shaking .out the casting from the the past to provide separate machines for shak- 5-. sand, screening and tempering the sand and ing out the molds and fortreating the sepak transferring the tempered sand to a sandtreatrated sand for reuse. Furthermore, before the ing and throwing mechanism from which the separated sand is acted upon by the condition-. treated sand is discharged ready for use in subing and treating mechanism, it is customaryfto I to sequent molding operations. I subject it to atempering operation. Consequently, 10 I A further object is to provide a portablgmech in ordertoproperly prepare the sand for reuse, anism which will permit the molds to beplaced it has been necessary to perform a number of l on the forwardly moving machine and. the conseparate operations, often in different parts of ditioned sand discharged forwardly of the movethe foundry, requiring theservices of numerous i5 ment of the machine at a specified point conoperators. 1 5

venient for reuse, a i The present inventionis designedto eliminate Another object is the provision of a' sand treatthese objectionable features and to .provide a ing mechanism which is capable of movement compact unit capable of receiving the molds after relative to the rest of the machine wherebythe they have been poured and to discharge the contreated sand may be discharged in different diditioned sand ready for reuse. "At the same time, 20 rections forwardly of the machine; that is, the the castings are collected and conveniently re-, treated sand may be discharged either to the tained at the rear of the machine where they right or left or directly in front of the machine, are accessible for immediate removal, as desired. as desired, a Referring now tothe drawings, and particu- A further object is to provide means carried by larly to Figures 1 and 2, the numeral l0 desig- 5 and normally located in front of the vehicle, to nates generally the machine forming the subconvey the molds to the shakeout mechanism, J'ect matter of the present invention. This-masaid means being movable to inoperative posichine is self-propelled and is preferably-mounted tion above the shakeout when the vehicle is to; be on a vehicle of the endless track type having the transported to various places. i l usual pair of crawlers or tracks ll, each of which 30 A still further object is the provision of means is provided with front and rear sprocket Wheels associated with the sand treatingmechanism, l2 and 13 respectively. The means for operating for controlling the discharge of the treated sand the crawlers and sprockets will be described in.

from said mechanism. detail hereinafter. v

Another object is the provision of a self-pro- The machine is provided with a sub-frame 35 pelled supporting vehicle of the endless track or mounted ,on the endless track mechanism, and crawler type having means for effectively steerthis comprises a pair of outside longitudinally in and operating the vehicle. extending beams M which are directly supported With the foregoing and other objects in view, by h p et s ts I5 and 16 r sp t l 40 the invention will now be morefullydescribed, Connecting the m and rear Set Of procket 4 reference being hadto the accompanying draw- Wheels n A plurality o oss beams] ings, in which; i I! aremounted on the beams l4, and these con- Figure 1 is an elevation of one side of the ma- With-Interior longitudinally extending beams" chine, with the mold feed conveyorin operative formmg part th -f e l r rant;assistants;:2: 525 1 5: j zgg i g s t e the on top of the cross beams n. a is a be under-.

l stood that this construction of crossed beams Flgure 3 1s a vemcal transverse Secmon through may be varied if desired, although the present the sha e t, and bucket l Q -f arrangement has been, found to be very effective 50 Flgu e 4 IS a transversesectlon through the a in supporting the various elements of the mamold feed conveyor. chine.

Figure 5 is a detail view in plan Show e j Referring particularlyto Figures 1 and 3, there means for, directing the screened material to is disclosed a shakeout and screening m ha m the elevator,-and 20 which extends substantially longitudinallyof g5 the machine and is directly supported on the longitudinally extending beams l9 of the subframe. .This shakeout is of the general type shown and described in Patents 1,860,480 and It isto be understood, however, that the shall re t. out 28 is particularly designedfor thepresent 'q machine and that it is adapted'to receive the molds at the front of themachine and to separate the sand from the castings and follow-up boards. The castings and boardswillgradually move onv the grids 2i and @Z to the rear of the shakeout and eventually pass under the weighted arms or sweeps 2d and fall into a tote bo r 25,; which is removably mounted on the beams l8 and may-be reams-eas a filled with castingsw- I Y Referringparticularly-to Figure 3; it will be observed that the shakeout 20 is provided with a discharge' hopper 26 mounted below the grids 25* and 22 with its lower end terminating directly above the upper run ofa belt conveyor 2-1. 3 This conveyor is suitably supported transversely of the sub-frame andis'adapted to receive the separatedsand from the hopper and like box when it has'been deposit it into the lower end of a bucket elevator 28. The'upper run; of the belt conveyor 21:" is surrounded on three sides by a hopper-like confining f rame 28 which is adapted to guide and retain the sand as it is transferred from the hopper 26 tothe bucket elevator 28. The open seats this frame faces the bucket elevator and at this pointjthere-is provided a diagonal deflectorplate 29' extending above and substantially-transversely of the belt 2?. One end of this plate terminates short of the side of the frame f-Z-bwhich is'adjacent the up side of the bucket elevator 28, and thereby deflects or diverts the 'n'iate'rial thereto. This arrangement is essential, since otherwise, the'belt 2? would carry a substantial portion of the material to the down side of 'the elevator, causing the material t'ofjam-up in the elevator and impair the chiciency of the machine. l

--At'-a point-between the shakeout and th bucket elevator are positioned a pair of spray pipes as'wmch are adapted to spray water or any'other suitable liquid down upon the sand to give it a preliminary tempering before it passes into th-bucket elevator. The water or other liciuid'may be supplied to the pipes 30 from-a tank'or any other suitable supply means (notshoWri); [The bucket elevator 28 is enclosed in a casing 3il""-whose base issupported by the beams ll and H3 of 3 the sub-frame. Furthermore, this casing is also positioned betweentthe longitudinally" extending. beams 3i of an auxiliary frame st ure' .whichis supported on the sub-frame eansof .theYuprig'ht beams 32 (see Figs. 2 f) r 'The bucket elevator may be of any sired formation and is provided"with a plurality of buckets 33 mounted on an endless chain or *belt 3. l. ,-fihe upper supporting sprocket of th chaih t l is-mounted-on a shaft 35 journaled in the upper portion of the casing 38. Theshaft extends through the casing and carries a pulley 3.6.:2whioh. is connectedto an operating motor. 31: by meantime a-belt38.-;Themotor '31 is sup supported upon a frame or base 45.

ported on a shelf 39 carried by one wall of the casing 30' (see Figs. 1 and 2).

The sand, after being preliminarily tempered by the water issuing from the spray pipes 30, enters the lower end of the casing 33' and is elevated by the buckets 83 to the top of-the casing where it is discharged through the discharge spout 40 into the hopper M of a sand. conditioning and treating mechanism M. This mechanism is of the type described in Royer Patent No. 1,559,915, and will therefore not be described in detail herein except to state that it comprises a rapidly rotated sand treating belt 43 which the machine. The belt 43 is operated by a motor 46 which, in additionto the mechanism 52 is This base is carried at the front of the auxiliary frame composed of the beams 34 and 32 and is pivotally mounted thereon adjacent the rear of the base to permit the sand conditioning mechanism 42 to swivel on the machine (see Fig. 2). The front of the base 45 is supported upon rollers to carried by the auxiliary frame which facilitates the pivotal movement of the mechanism d2; Atthe rear of the base an arm 47 is connected toandprojects laterally from the standard. 18 constituting the pivot point about which the sand conditioning. mechanism is adapted to swivel. ..'The outer endof the arm ll carries a nut 49 having a threaded opening which receives .the threaded end of an operating shaft 5b. This shaft is mounted on one of the longitudinally extending beams SI of the auxiliary frame and terminates inan operating wheel 5| adjacent the operators seat 52. By rotating the shaft: 5%; the nut 39 is moved forwardly and rearwardly. on the shaft and, in turn, moves the arm 4-1. This has the effect of rotating the base =d5. and' with it the mechanism 12 about the pivot dawhereby the conditioning belt may be moved to either side of the machine for discharging the conditioned sand at various points in advance of the machine. The rollers 45, of course,.facilitatethe movement of the base and mechanism. 42 about the pivot 48.

In addition to pivotally mounting the sand conditioning'mechanism to permit the conditioned sand to discharge at various points in advanceaof the machine, means are also provided tocontrol' the throw of the sand from the conditioning belt 43. This means comprises a sand deflector 53 (see Figs. 1 and 2) pivotally mounted on the mechanism 42 above the top run of the belt 43 and a guide chute 5 3 spaced from the deflector 53 and pivotally mounted on the mechanism below the upper run of the belt E3. i. The deflector is adapted to deflect the stream of conditioned sand as it is discharged from the belt 43 and is capable of being raised and lowered to difierent positions of adjustment with respect tothe belt 43. The means for effecting this adjustment comprises a connecting rod 55 pivoted to the deflector and having its lower end connected to a rock arm 5G rigidly connected to a worrii" 'wheel '51. This wheel, in turn, meshes with a worm 58 fixed'to an operating shaft 59 so as to rotate-therewith; This shaft, similar to shaft 513, extends re arwardly to a point convenient to the operators seat 52 and has a'hand wheel 60 secured to its rearend. By rotating thisfhand wheel, the shaft 59' will likewise be rotated'-and transmit movement through the worm wheel to the connecting rod 551' This will raiseand lower the deflector; as desired; ,With

respect to the chute- 54-, thisis -capable of adjustment through the supporting rod 6l. As

will be observed,the lower end of this rod is l provided with a plurality of notches 62 engageable with a horizontal bar 63 carried at the front of the base 45 of the sand treating mechanism. With this construction, the conditioned sand may not only be discharged to one side or the other of the machine, as desired, but by adjusting the deflector 53 and the chute 54, the

stream of sand as it is thrown from the belt,

may be controlled to permit it to be discharged at any convenient location.

Referring again to Figures 1, 2 and 4, there is disclosed means for conveying the molds upwardly and discharging them into thefront of the shakeout 2!]. This means comprises a longitudinally extending framememberfi i in which is supported a belt feed conveyor 65 having spaced flights 66; In operative position the frame and belt are inclined-forwardly and downwardly to a position convenient to permit an operator to easily place 'a poured mold at the front of the belt where it will be conveyed upwardly and discharged onto the front of the shakeout mechanism 20.

64. The forward end of this frame is supported on a pair of rubber tired wheels 68, and in operative position the frames 64 and belt are moved forwardlyin advance of the rest of the wardly. The rails are of substantially .U-shape formation in cross-section andare adapted to receive rollers l2 carried by and projecting outwardly from each side of the frame 64. The extreme front end of each rail is fashioned so as to provide a wide entrance portion 13 for receiving the rollers '52 and for guiding them into the narrow portions of the rails. These entrance portionsl3 also constitute adequate supportsfor therubber tires 6% when the frame 64 and conveyor 65 are raised to inoperative position.

The means for moving. the frame and conveyor to inoperative positioncomprises acable 'Mhaving one end connected to the motor support 15 while its other end is wound about a-pulley Mi. mounted on the shaft ll of a motor 18.

This motor lli is mounted atithe extreme upper end of the rails H and maybe of any desired type. It is preferred, however, that some sort of braking means (not shown) be associated with the motor for maintaining the conveyor frame 64 in inoperative position. In this connection, however, a positive locking mechanism is also included as a part of the mechanism. This comprises a hook element 19 projecting rearwardly from the frame 15 and engageable with a safety latch 80 pivotally mounted on a bracket 8| carried at the upper end of the rails in front of the motor 18. An operating handle 82 is connected to the latch 8!! for swingingit into and out of engagement with the hook 19. In order to positively maintain the conveyor 65 in its operative down position, a pin 83 is provided and this is adapted to he slipped into. suitable openings in The belt is operated by a motor 61 carried at the rear of the frame one of the rails H sofas to engage a portion of the motor frame 15. This will. positively prevent the conveyor from backing up on the rails when the conveyor is in operative position and when it moves forwardly with the machine.

With this construction it will be apparent that the conveyor 65 may be maintained in its upper inoperative position. as long as desired. When, however, the machine is to be operated, it is merely necessary to actuate the handle 82 and.

releasethe latch 80 from the hook 19. At the same'time, the motor brakeor other suitable mechanismassociated withthe motor 18 may be released to unwind the cable 14 and permit the conveyor to move down the rails H. to its operative position, asshown in Figures 1 and 2. In this position it will be observed that the rear most set of rollers 12 remain on the rails ii whereby the upper end of the frame 64 is adequately supported in operative position. Thereafter, the pin 83 is slipped into position to lock the conveyor against upward movement on the rails. The machine jmay'then be moved forwardly into any desired position where operators may place the pouredmolds onto the front of the feed conveyor 65. This may be accom plishedwhenxthe machine is either stationary or moving forwardly. The molds will be transported up the feed. conveyor 65 and dropped upon the shakeout 20,1where the grids 2! and 22 will shake out the sand from the castings and follow-up boards or other parts of the molds which are placed on the conveyor. The castings, follow-up boards, and other extraneous matter will be moved rearwardly andeventually drop in-.

tothe tote box .25, Thesand will be screened through the grids and will drop upon the transversely mounted belt conveyor 21 where it will be transported to the lower end of the bucket elevator 28. During this movement, the sand will be given a preliminary tempering as it passes under the spray pipes 30. The said will then be raised to the top of the bucket elevator and. discharged into the sand'conditioning mechanism 42 where the rapidly rotating belt 43 will condition and treat the sand anddischarge it forwardly ata distance in advance of the moving machine.

By reason of the swivel mounting of the sand conditioning apparatus the sand may be delivered either directly in front of the machine or to one ditioning apparatus, this member may be 10- cated so that it can pivot about the rear portion of the machine for discharging the conditioned material at that point. To accomplish. this, it would be necessary to reverse the mounting of the bucket elevator on the sub-frame,

.Any suitable source of power, such as the motor 84, may be utilized to operate the grills 2! and 22 of the shakeout 20, while another motor 85 is provided for operating the transversely ar It is, of course, understood that ranged belt 21. any other suitable means may be utilized for operating the several units of the present machine. Howevenvthe. use of electric motors is preferred since they may be conveniently controlled by the operator from the switch board 85 located adjacent the seat 52 (see Fig. 2).

Referring now to Figures 2 and 6, there is disclosed the mechanism for propelling the vehicle and operating the endless track mechanism. The source of power for this mechanism comprises a motor 86, although any other suitable power means may be employed. Power is transmitted to a clutch 87 through any suitable reduction gearing 88. This clutch is connected directly to the transmission 89 which is connected through a universal joint 90, to a differential 9i. This differential is not shown in detail, since it may be of any desired construction provided with driven shafts 92 and 93. Each shaft carries a sprocket gear 94 which transmits power through sprocket chain 95 to the sprocket gear 96 mounted on a cross shaft 91. This shaft 97 carries the rear sprockets i2 of the crawler mechanism l l. Brake drums 98 and 99 are secured to the outer ends of the shafts 92 and 93 respectively, and these are associated With external brake bands I00 and Nil respectively. Brake band i0!) is operatively connected through linkage mechanism M2 to arm I03 rigidly connected to one end of a cross rod MM mounted in the frame of the machine. Likewise, linkagemechanism I85 operatively connects the brake band if]! with an arm I96 mounted on the other end of the cross rod IM. It will be observed that the arms Hi3 and H36 are mounted at different angular positions about the rod I84. This structure is provided to effect steering of thevehicle; that is, the arrangement is such that when the rod operating lever Hill is in neutral position, no braking pressure will. be applied to either of the brake drums $8 or 99. either forwardly or rearwardly, braking pressure will be applied to one or the other of the drums and thereby retard or stop the rotation of one or the other of the stub shafts 92 and 83. If braking pressure is applied to drum 98, this will have the effect of retarding the rotation of shaft 92 and accelerate the rotation of shaft 93 through the differential 9| and thereby effect a movement of the vehicle'to the left. Conversely, when braking pressure is applied to the drum 99, r0 tation of shaft 93 will be retarded, and in a like manner the vehicle will be moved to the right. Lever 488 controls operation of the clutch 81, While lever I09 effects operation of the transmission 89.

All of the operating levers for the vehicle and for the sand conditioning and treating'mechanism are placed conveniently to the seat 52 whereby a single operator may easily and efli- However, when the lever is, moved ciently steer the vehicle to the desired point where other operators will be available to place the poured molds upon the feed conveyor 64 leading to the shakeout. Thus, with the present machine, it will be apparent that numerous operations which it has heretofore been necessary to perform with separate machines, are efiiciently carried out by a single machine and by a minimum of operators.

'It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details of construction shown in the drawings and that-the examples of the use of the device whichhave been given do not include all of the uses of whichit is capable, and that the phraseology employed in the specification is for the purposes of description and not of limitation.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, a frame, a screening mechanism supported longitudinally of the frame and adapted to receive molds, shakeout and separate castings from sand, an elevator mounted on the frame at one side of the screening mechanism, a conveyor supported transversely of the frame and screening mechanism and positioned below the latter to receive the screened sand and transfer it to the elevator, a sand conditioning belt pivoted adjacent the front of the frame in advance of the elevator and adapted to receive sand from the elevator and discharge it in front of the frame, and operating means associated with said sand conditioning belt for moving the same about its pivot whereby the-direction of discharge of the sand may be changed.

2. In a device of the character described, a movable supporting frame, a screening mechanism supported longitudinally of the frame and adapted to receive molds, shakeout and separate castings fromsand, a. pair of spaced longitudinally extending inclined rails supported on said frame above the screening mechanism, each rail being of channel formation with its forward lower end being inclined downwardly relative to the rest of the rail and having its upper wall removed to provide an enlarged entrance portion, a mold conveyor normally located in inclined position in advance of the screening mechanism and having rail engaging rollers for permitting the conveyor to be moved to inoperative position on said rails, a pair of supporting wheels mounted on the front of said mold conveyor, said wheels being adapted to ride upon and be supported by said enlarged entrance portions when the conveyor is raised to inoperative position, and means carried by said frame for raising said conveyor on said rails to an inoperative position.

STANLEY B. DAVIES; 

